It has been a busy last few weeks for biosimilar developers, with multiple deals announced.

On March 29, 2022, it was announced that Formycon AG (“Formycon”) and ATHOS KG (“ATHOS”) have agreed to merge their development activities in the area of biosimilars through a long-term strategic partnership.  Formycon will acquire 100% of the rights in FYB202, a biosimilar candidate for Stelara, a 50% stake of ATHOS in FYB201, a biosimilar candidate for Lucentis, and the operational development unit Bioeq GmbH.

On March 31, 2022, Fresenius Kabi announced that it has agreed to acquire a stake of 55% of mAbxience Holding S.L. (“mAbxience”).  The purchase price will be a combination of €495 million upfront payment and milestone payments, strictly tied to the achievement of commercial and development targets.  mAbxience was founded in 2010, and has two commercialized biosimilar products (rituximab and bevacuzumab), and state of the art manufacturing facilities in Spain and Argentina.  According to Fresenius, through its in-house biosimilars programs and through its investment in mAbxience, Fresensius expects to “capture an overproportionate share of the underlying rapid growth in the biopharmaceutical market.”

Finally, on April 4, 2022, Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (“Intas”) announced that it has signed an exclusive license and supply agreement with Axantia Holding (“Axantia”) for ranibizumab, a biosimilar version of Lucentis.  Under the terms of this agreement, Axantia will register, hold the marketing authorization and commercialize ranibizumab in certain territories including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and GCC countries.